For the last couple of years, the way I talk about NaNoWriMo has shifted tense and tone. “I love NaNo” has become “I loved NaNo” and I haven’t really been able to recapture the joy and excitement I took in it at the start.
Therefore, I haven’t really been looking forward to this November. It’d be easy to just not participate this year, but I’m mildly (and here those who know me laugh) obsessive in certain ways. I started NaNo in 2005, and there is a part of my brain that refuses to stop until I’ve done 2010 to round that out. It’s just one of those things, so I’ve accepted that I’ll be participating again this year.
But I want it to be fun again.
Last year, I tried to bring that back by giving myself two additional projects for added challenge. That was more work, and was kinda fun, but I think I missed the point. After all, adding more projects meant my NaNo was pretty much the same, only with the NaNo+ projects compressing my time. I need to fix how I feel about the core, not just distract myself with attachments.
So, 30 days and 50,000 words, loose and fun like it’s supposed to be, and useful, because that’s what I need it to be.
Useful is one of the things that’s been tripping me up, and it’s what I’m going to target this year.
I’ve always considered NaNo a good way to get through the shitty first draft. I still think that’s true, but what you get is a NaNo shitty first draft and that comes with its own set of problems. (Why yes, I really did want to use ten words to say “please”.) Those tend to block my ability to call the draft useful, or usable in some cases, and it’s what’s been stalling my plans for NaNo 2010.
On Tuesday I read a guest post by Barbara Beig at Writer Beware Blogs!, and it’s given me a new tactic for this year. The post talks about deliberate practice: pinpointing your weak points and practising them repeatedly. Pick one component, and pound away at it without distraction.
I’m aware of some of my weak points. They’re the things on the list I keep for WiPs called “Improve in Revision.” I do improve them, but it’s something that always enters the process late for me, and I think it will never be there on the first draft unless I practice until it becomes a natural part of my groundwork.
I’m going to make NaNoWriMo 2010 deliberate practice. I’m going to identify the weaknesses I want to focus on, and plan a novel project that can hammer at them, rather than playing to my strengths, which is what I usually do in a time crunch.
There are some points to fine tune in this plan, obviously, but I’m looking forward to working those out. I’m excited about it again!
